Libero
by PURRcrastination
Summary: She'd been happy for a while, before they'd started changing. So she would defeat them all at their own games. She would manipulate Oikawa, crush Tendou, silence Bokuto, take the joy from Terushima, and she'd go all the way to Nationals to beat Sakusa. Nishinoya would get them all back, no matter what. Fem!Nishinoya KnB!Theme
1. Prologue

**[Prologue]**

* * *

 _"Someday… I'll defeat all of them."_

* * *

The other team had finally cleanly received one of their serves, sending it spinning up and then down to where the setter was standing. Dyed blond hair had fluttered a bit as the volleyball was quickly set to the ace of their team.

And then suddenly the fight had been in midair, the raven-haired ace battling against a blocker with crazily gleaming red eyes.

The ace had smirked, his entire body bending as he hit the ball right through the block. He had fallen back to the ground on his knees, having lost his balance during the powerful spike. And then the ball was coming closer and closer to landing on their side of the court.

Nishinoya's vision tunneled and instantly she lunged and dived. Keeping the ball from dropping was her only goal at the moment. This was her role, the only way she could help her team.

Time seeming to slow down as she slid a single hand under the ball right before it touched the ground. Everything was frozen for a moment, all the players completely focused on her, before time started running again and Nishinoya's body painfully crashed into the ground. She couldn't see, but she knew the volleyball had been sent spinning back into the air based on the cheers from the crowd, coming back down about where the setter was standing.

A quick wrist flick later, the striped ball was completely slammed through the three-man block, and was whistling through the air towards the back of the court.

Nishinoya could see as the six players on the other team didn't even bother to chase it, already haven given up. She watched as the ball slammed onto the ground, almost deforming and changing shape before it bounced off the court.

The opponent's side of the court. Because no matter what -the strength, the skill, the strategy of a team- it all came down to one thing; whichever team let the ball drop first.

The world slowly bled back into focus. Nishinoya could faintly heard cheering from the bleachers, and felt her teammates clap her on the back with a sort of detached numbness. Her head turned to the scoreboard, eyes widening when she read the numbers.

 _25:6_

They had won. So why did it feel so hollow?

On the other side of the net, clothes rustled as a black haired spiker with messy hair glared up at her from his position on the ground. A shorter boy with dyed blond hair extended a hand to help him up. The black haired boy pushed it away, making eye contact with her.

 _I'm sorry…_

 _I tried to help… messing up a few times on purpose to give you a slim hope that you might still win, trying to encourage you to keep fighting…_

 _But I knew from the beginning that you were fated to lose in the end, and I made it worse by giving you hope, seeing how it was crushed utterly by my teammates._

 _And the worst part is, that I expected it. That I knew all my actions would just hurt you more, and that I still made them._

 _I'm sorry, because I don't believe that I'm a good person anymore._

For a second, black and gold orbs clashed as sparks seemed to ignite, before Nishinoya turned her head away. She walked towards her teammates who were standing on the courtline.

It was over.

* * *

The change room was tensely silent for a few minutes before a brown-haired boy suddenly burst out.

"Damn it Tendou-kun! Couldn't you have blocked one more spike? Then we would have perfectly quintupled their score!"

Satori huffed from his place on the bench where he was tying his shoes, glaring at Oikawa.

"Don't blame it on me idiot. It's Noya-chan's job to save whatever spikes get past my block. You should be yelling at her, not me."

 _No… That's not true… Because I don't even know if you guys still need me. Oikawa's serves are aced half the time, and Sakusa always makes kills with his spikes. And even if the opponent somehow manages to form a decent attack, Tendou immediately blocks them. They don't even need a Libero anymore._

Nishinoya cringed as Oikawa turned to her. Now the others in the gym room also were staring at her. Hiding behind her hair, she lost her usual recklessness as she took a few small steps backwards.

 _They've changed so much_

Sakusa sighed. "Oikawa. It's fine. Don't blame it on Nishinoya, although I must admit I am disappointed that we did not reach our previously set goal."

Oikawa immediately stopped examining her and looked away as Nishinoya painfully winced.

 _I didn't know about this… They set a goal to quintuple our opponent's score? Why? Is losing even a possibility to them? Or are they so certain they'll win that they don't even care about the other team and only focus on the score?_

 _I don't think I'll ever be able to look Kuroo and Kenma in the face again._

 _I'm sorry._

"Hey, hey, hey!" Bokuto crowed, interrupting the thick tension. "It's our last match of junior high! Let's not waste time thinking about what could have been, and instead focus on the fact that we just won for the third year in a row!"

The gray haired boy high-fived another blond haired boy.

Terushima grinned back at him. "Another year of no losses."

He turned to the red-head next to him. "No need to frown so much Satori-tan! The only times I've ever see you smile are that creepy grin and "heart-break" song when we're on court" the blond admonished.

Satori scoffed, looking at the boy. "As if I'd ever lose. There's no way. And stop calling me that idiotic nickname."

Nishinoya turned away from all of them, heading slowly towards the doorway of the change room with her head bowed and her volleyball bag slung limply over a shoulder. She could already feel tears prickling at the corners of her eyes.

"Where are you going, Nishi-chan?" Oikawa spoke up, his long legs catching up to her in seconds as he placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"I'm tired, Oikawa-kun. I'm going home. I'll see you guys tomorrow at the school assembly, I guess" she said, gritting her teeth silently.

Oikawa seemed to want to protest, but he was quickly shut up by a cold look from the team's captain.

"We'll see you tomorrow then, Nishinoya." Sakusa said with a small nod.

Nishinoya almost ran from the room. Only managing to barely keep a fast walk as she fled the building.

* * *

 _How did everything go so wrong?_

 _I waited three years to finally have a match against Kuroo and Kenma like I promised… But it wasn't anything like I imagined it would be._

 _When did my teammates start to change so much? When did they start to become monsters?_

 _I don't know… But… I'll get them back somehow._

 _I'll defeat each and every one of them, and get them to love volleyball again._


	2. Chapter 1

[Chapter 1]

"I don't think that effort and will alone will ever be able to win in the face of overwhelming strength… But I'll help them succeed anyways"

The sound of voices yelling echoed around her through the narrow hallway, as Nishinoya ducked and weaved between and under arms to get to the only list on the wall she wanted to see.

The signups for the Karasuno High Boys Volleyball club.

"I'm sorry" she yelled as she knocked a small girl over, even though it was probably pointless since there was no way the student could hear her over this clamor. Oh well, almost there anyways. Pushing her way past a few more people, Nishinoya finally reached the sheet she had been looking for and cast a glance over it.

An introduction to the captain of the team named Daichi Sawamura, some quick notes about various 'significant' victories the team had achieved in the past, and finally the only thing that stood out to Nishinoya:

The goal of the Boys Volleyball club is to qualify for, and compete in nationals -a prestigious honour which Karasuno High has only been chosen for once in the past. If any prospective members of the club feel uncertain about this objective, or do not wish to commit to the amount of extra-curricular time and pressure that will be associated with it, then we kindly advise you to consider joining another club.

Reading through it while she quickly signed her name with a blue ballpoint pen, she sighed. Only 4 other signups apart from her; maybe the 'goal' of the club had turned them off? She was relatively late too, so there was a low probability that more students would sign up. It seemed like volleyball wasn't a very popular sport here.

I just hope there's even enough students to form a legal team.

Nishinoya shook her head. What was she thinking? Of course there were enough. There were obviously going to at least be more than two seniors, and some of the first years had to have some talent.

It's fine. Everything will be fine. I just need to go to the school gym.

Now if only she knew where exactly said gym was.

"Thank you, Kiyoko-san" Takeda said, bowing his head formally as he accepted a piece of paper from the raven-haired girl.

As she gently smiled, the black-haired teacher scanned the list, looking at all the names.

"5 students this year! That's actually pretty good, considering what Daichi-san told me of the turnout last year."

Kiyoko nodded. "Since our 'fall' we have at least been slowly climbing higher. Last year we even made it a decent distance at inter-highs, losing to Date-Tech, which everyone knows is a powerhouse."

Takeda nodded encouragingly. "I heard! I'm very excited to be the team's faculty advisor this year."

"Yes, thank you very much for taking up our offer. I was afraid that if we didn't have a team advisor, the school council would disband the club due to the lack of members and low popularity compared to other clubs such as Boys Basketball and Baseball."

The teacher sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. "Well I'm glad to at least be of some help, I'm afraid I've never really done this before. Am I doing something wrong? I tried arranging practice matches with three different schools yesterday but all of them turned me down."

Kiyoko smiled, with a slight tinge of bitterness. "Don't worry, it's not your fault. Ever since our 'fall' almost every school has been turning down out requests. You're doing a great job, and anyways, us third years have already promised ourselves that we'll show them how wrong they are when we win inter-highs."

Takeda grinned back at her. "I won't take it personally, but I promise you that I will get the team a practice match soon, even if I have to go down on my hands and knees and beg. A practice match would be a perfect first challenge for Karasuno's baby crows, and soon they'll take their first steps and spread their wings, learning through trial and error how to fly!"

A moment of silence followed his words, and it grew slightly awkward.

The black-haired teacher laughed nervously. "Oh I'm sorry, that was a bit cheesy wasn't it? I have a habit to sometimes speak way too deeply like that."

Kiyoko laughed, a sweet and pretty chiming sound, while shaking her head. "No, that was perfect Takeda-sensei, and I completely agree! Not only that, I think Karasuno has a better chance than ever to go to nationals, thanks to the first years joining the club soon.

"Hmm, why is that? Shouldn't Karasuno's chance lie mostly on the more experienced second and third years?"

Having stopped laughing, Kiyoko seemed to gain a look of pride in her eyes, not too different from the look a mother would have as she boasted of her child's accomplishments. "Look at the fifth student, Takeda-sensei" she said softly.

He looked back down at the paper with the names of the new club members, counting with his finger.

"Let's see. We have Kageyama Tobio, Hinata Shoyo, Yamaguchi Tadashi, Tsukihima Kei, and… Nishinoya Yuu?"

Kiyoko's eyes gleamed a little, as she smiled. "That's right. And she's from Shiroyama Junior High."

Takeda frowned a bit, looked over at the third-year student. "Where is Shiroyama Junior High?" he asked.

"It's not where it is, Takeda-sensei, it's the fact that Nishinoya-chan came from there. In fact, I think I've heard her name before. She's one of the nicknamed 'Generation of Miracles'."

Takeda frowned even more. "Her? What are you talking about, Kiyoko-san. Isn't it the Boy's Volleyball Club?"

Kiyoko looked at him. "There's no rule against girls playing on the boys team at the highschool level" she said, sounding slightly offended as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Takeda laughed slightly. "Sorry, sorry, Kiyoko-san, I didn't mean to offend you. We'd all welcome anyone to the club, no matter the gender. Anyways, from what you say, it sounds like she's a good player!"

The raven-haired third year seemed to relax a little and uncrossed her arms. "Yes, I apologize for my rudeness. Anyways, you know that all I want is to help the third years achieve their dream to go to nationals. And it's the last possible year for them, so it's important more than ever to have some fresh new faces on the team. I think Nishinoya-chan, despite being a girl, is exactly what they need."

Takeda chewed his lip pensively. "You mentioned earlier that she was part of something called the 'Generation of Miracles'. Is that why you think Nishinoya-san will be what the team needs?"

Kiyoko nodded, with a look of a teacher about to give a lesson. "Precisely. The Generation of Miracles is actually not an entire generation, but instead a name given to the regular players of the Shiroyama Junior-High Volleyball Club. A total of six students, all of which specialize in certain aspects of volleyball, and together ranked first for all their years of Junior-High. Each of them has talent that's found possibly only once in a decade, and it's incredible that fate put all of them in the same country, not to mention the same school. However, after winning all three National championships in Junior-High, and making sure that the entire volleyball circuit knew their names, they decided to split up, looking for a larger challenge that they would only find with each other" she explained.

"Rumour has it that there's even a strong rivalry and hatred between some members because of some incident in their final year, and the schools that each of them have chosen to go to are all everyone who knows anything about volleyball is talking about. It's an amazing opportunity for Karasuno that one of the members of the Generation of Miracles has chosen to come here, even though I don't think anyone was previously informed of this. At least I wasn't. It was quite a surprise to see Nishinoya-chan's name on the list. I wonder if she told anyone she was coming to Karasuno? Oh, probably not, in which case we should probably keep it on the down low. What a surprise it will be to our opponents when they suddenly see her wearing the Karasuno volleyball uniform!" Kiyoko said, seemingly having partially lost her calm and demure attitude, as excitement crept into her voice.

Now it was Takeda's turn to laugh. "Well that was quite the bundle of information. I still don't quite understand, Kiyoko-san, but I'll just take your word for it. I'm excited to see what our team can do either way, so I'll get back to arranging a practice match as I promised earlier."

Kiyoko bowed formally, looking slightly embarrassed at her impromptu speech. "Thank you, Takeda-sensei."

Peering around the doorway of the gym, to where there was already a small group of students gathered, Nishinoya took a deep breath before smoothing out her uniform and walking into the large space.

She had finally found the gym after almost half an hour of searching, by asking a nearby brown-haired third year who had grimaced as he told her.

Azumane Asahi, that was his name.

Nishinoya sighed. Nevertheless, she had not expected the school grounds to be that hard to navigate. They weren't necessarily large, but with all the hedges and different cobbled paths, it became more and more like a labyrinth the longer you kept walking.

Blinking as she took in her surroundings, she found herself standing next to a few older students and a much older man with a toupee. All four were watching something and hadn't noticed her yet.

Squinting slightly, she realized that one of the students had silver hair, while the other two both looked quite normal, despite one's lack of hair at all.

Following their line of sight to a bit farther away, Nishinoya found a short boy with bright orange hair standing in the basic receiving position, and across the court from him, there was another taller black-haired boy who was about to…

Jump Serve?

Her brain was unusually slow today, muddled by the short amounts of sleep she had been getting the past week. But even so, volleyball instincts kicked in instantly. Right away, Nishinoya's eyes flashed, and she felt her adrenaline go up.

Suddenly the world had cleared up, and everything was focused on the ball that the black-haired boy had in his hand.

He's spinning the ball in his palms now, taking a deep breath with his nose almost touching it… Why does he remind me so much of Oikawa?

What's happening to me? Why did the sight of that boy suddenly trigger something in me. He doesn't even look anything like Oikawa. That boy has black hair and blue eyes. If anything, he looks more like Sakusa.

"I'll receive any serve you aim at me, Kageyama!" The orange haired boy closer to her yelled loudly.

Against herself, Nishinoya suddenly found herself grinning. As Kageyama took first one step, then another before almost flying into the air, she realized that they liked volleyball. That they hadn't lost whatever dedication her previous teammates had to the sport.

It seemed odd, almost like some made up scene in a story, but Nishinoya had seen the lights in the eyes of her previous teammates go out one by one, as they had all slowly started to hate volleyball.

Though maybe hate wasn't the right word. They had never truly hated volleyball, and they still didn't, but at some point during those three years, they had stopped enjoying playing the game. Had stopped looking forward to being on the court again. Perhaps she had too.

The loud sound of the ball smacking against flesh echoed through the gym before suddenly the striped ball was whistling towards the older males next to her.

Taking a few steps forward, Nishinoya found herself lowering her head at the same time that she raised her arms in a "X" shape.

I think… that I made the right choice coming here. It doesn't matter that Karasuno isn't some powerhouse academy.

The ball bounced off her arms, dropping lifelessly to the ground at the same time as the small group behind her slowly opened their eyes.

A bit of former light was reflected in Nishinoya's eyes, as she turned to the boy who had been called 'Kageyama' and loudly proclaimed to him.

"Serve to me too!"

All of the occupants of the gym immediately stopped and turned around to stare at her.

"Who are you? I'm Hinata Shoyo" the orange haired boy spoke up first.

"My name is Nishinoya Yuu" Nishinoya replied with a grin.

A chorus of other introductions rang out.

"Daichi Sawamura"

"Sugawara Koushi"

"Tanaka Ryuunosuke"

The only one who didn't respond was Kageyama, who Nishinoya had just asked to serve to her.

The black haired boy was studying her carefully, almost causing a shiver from his intense look.

Moments passed as he seemed to be trying to remember something. Nishinoya stared curiously back at him, had she heard the name Kageyama before?

All of sudden the blue eyed boy seemed to realize whatever he had been searching for. "You're from Shiroyama." he said coldly.

Nishinoya could hear the others gasp slightly as they realized who she was. She stared right back at Kageyama, golden and sapphire blue mixing.

"Shiroyama? Isn't that the powerhouse school who won the last three years of nationals?" Sugawara whispered to Daichi.

"No… It's not just Shiroyama… I think it's more the 'Generation of Miracles'"

"Wait, but it was all over the news that she was going to Nekoma wasn't it? Why is she here?" Sugawara responded.

"I didn't realize she was the Nishinoya." Tanaka said loudly, before covering his mouth with his hand, slightly embarrassed.

Hinata closed his eyes, whispering to himself. "The newspaper… They're the team... That defeated Kitagawa-Daiichi"

Nishinoya responded calmly with a nod. "I am. And you're Kageyama Tobio. Now that I think about it, I believe I faced your team back in junior high."

Silently, she tried to tell Kageyama with her eyes, that they were now teammates. That they would be on the same side of the court.

She grinned. "Your serves have gotten a lot better! I really want to try receiving them!"

Kageyama didn't respond however, simply narrowing his eyes at her. "I remember you too. You were a lot different in junior high, but I do remember you were the Libero"

"Yeah I was, does that mean you're too scared to try serving to me?"

Kageyama growled, roughly grabbing another volleyball from the cart. "Fine. Try receiving this."

Getting into serving position again, the blue eyed boy ignored the cries of his seniors and the orange haired boy he had been previously facing.

Nishinoya grinned even more as she watched Kageyama frown deeply and slowly exhale, throwing the ball up into the air and taking a running approach.

The adrenaline was back again, making the entire court clearly defined, and she could see as the ball hurtled towards the left and back side of the court.

Rushing to where it was heading, Nishinoya took a final two steps before diving. Tunnel vision had settled in now, and all that mattered was getting that ball back up into the air.

As her forearms reached the optimal position beneath the ball and cleanly received the impact, Nishinoya was almost disappointed for a moment, before she shook it out of her head.

I won't lie to myself, Oikawa's serves were on another level from Kageyama's. But it's already something, that he can even serve that well.

Another genius maybe? Either way, I already decided that I made the right choice. This team has potential.

The ball was sent spinning up, finally coming back down and landing down exactly where the setter would have been standing if this had been a match. Nishinoya smirked at Kageyama from across the court.

A perfect receive. My skills haven't degraded at all.

As Kageyama scowled darkly with a menacing aura, Hinata suddenly yelled out.

"That was so awesome, Noya-chan!" the orange haired boy cried, rushing onto the court. "I want to be able to receive like that! Send me another one too, Kageyama!"

Kageyama, still scowling at how well Nishinoya had received his serve -the one he had spent countless late nights practicing and perfecting- had almost instantly already served another volleyball, this time heading straight towards Hinata.

And within seconds the ball was firmly implanted on the Dean's face.

Everything was silent for a few moments before Nishinoya swore loudly. She had completely forgotten the older man was still watching, and goddamnit she should have expected that Hinata would completely botch his receive, considering the last one.

The orange haired boy in question, only had the time to whisper that this didn't look good, before all three of the first years were kicked out of the gym by Daichi, a paper sign taped to their foreheads.

Cries of outrage were heard all across the school as the three first-year looked down at the notices they had been given.

"We're kicked out of the gym? Are you kidding?! I didn't even do anything wrong!" Nishinoya complained loudly.

Kageyama glared at her. "What are you talking about, this is obviously all your fault. I mean, why were you at the boy's volleyball gym anyway? Did you get lost trying to find the girl's one?" He sneered.

Now Nishinoya glared back. "Are you kidding? I'm obviously here to join the boy's team. I need to defeat my teammates from Shiroyama. How would I do that if I was on the girl's team?!"

Hinata just stared at the two of them, open mouthed in shock before he finally spoke up.

"You're a girl?"

Instantly to be hit on the head by two fists.

Sitting cross legged on the ground across from Hinata and Kageyama, Nishinoya clapped once.

"Okay. We need a plan of action" she declared.

Hinata had finally calmed down, and all three had signed some sort of mutual agreement that said they would get back into the gym together.

"I know! Let's challenge them to a duel" Hinata yelled.

"A duel?"

Kageyama looked at the orange haired boy weirdly. "Baka… how old fashioned are you? Calling it a duel."

"Hmm… We should challenge them to a three on three match." The black haired boy said to Nishinoya, completely bypassing Hinata.

Nishinoya nodded and grinned, agreeing to Kageyama's plan as she ignored Hinata's cries of outrage that having a match was exactly what he had suggested.

Quickly standing up from the gravel ground right outside the gym, Nishinoya quickly ran up the steps and knocked on the door. For extra measure she also added in a kick.

The sounds of volleyballs hitting the ground inside the gym stopped almost immediately, and the black-haired libero assumed that they were heading towards the door.

"Hey! We challenge you to a three on three match to show you that we can work together! Can you let us back in?!" she shouted.

Silence for a moment, before a dark chuckle was heard from the other side. Nishinoya shivered, was that the captain? His voice had completely changed.

"A three on three match you say? Very well, I gather that this is your attempt at teamwork. However there is one condition, if you lose then you won't be able to play as regulars for as long as us third years are still here."

Behind her, at the bottom of the steps, Kageyama growled.

"Are you saying you won't let me play setter?" The dark-haired setter said.

"Correct. And Nishinoya-san won't be able to play Libero."

Nishinoya's eyebrows rose. Excuse me? "Are you joking? You guys need me if you even want to stand a chance at winning! Especially with my teammates from Shiroyama added to the volleyball circuit" she exclaimed.

Sure it was cocky, but it was true. And fine, maybe just the tiniest bit of arrogance from her previous teammates had passed on to her.

A dismissive voice came from the other side of the closed gym door. "We don't need teammates who can't work together."

Nishinoya rolled her eyes, about to argue, before she was cut of by the third, orange-haired first year, who had remained silent for the duration of the conversation

Hinata finally spoke up. "It doesn't matter. We'll win!"

We better. If need be, I'll keep the ball from touching our side of the court until they finally score a point.

I need to be on the team.

Sitting on the lowest branch of a small apple tree, Nishinoya sighed.

After the entire incident at the boy's volleyball club gym, the school day had passed pretty quickly, all the teachers only giving the barest of introductions, before assigning some preliminary homework and waving them on to the next class.

Today was tiring. But it was nice, I haven't met people who love volleyball as much as those two for a long time. They remind me of how our team at Shiroyama used to be, before we all started changing.

Sliding her phone out of the back pocket of her uniform as she felt it vibrating, Nishinoya opened it.

It was a message from Hinata, promising her that they would win the match after school tomorrow, and reminding her that they had promised to meet early at the gym in the morning.

Nishinoya smiled softly, swinging her legs in the air as she typed in a response, messaging to Hinata that she wouldn't forget and that of course they would win.

Quickly turning her phone screen off, and watching as satisfaction as the pale light it gave turned into darkness, she slid it back into her pocket.

Sighing as she looked far into the horizon, where the sun was just about finished setting, illuminating the entire sky in fiery colours of red, orange, and yellow, Nishinoya blissfully closed her eyes.

I like Karasuno. They all… they all aren't normal. I just hope they won't start changing like the Shiroyama team did. I don't think I could handle it if the same thing happened again.

I promise that I won't let it happen to them.

For the second time in a few minutes, her phone started vibrating, this time along with a ringtone that signified it was an incoming call.

Assuming it was Hinata again, Nishinoya laughed quietly and quickly pulled out her device, answering the call.

Holding it next to her ear, her face instantly dropped the smile, as a voice that was most assuredly not Hinata's spoke through the link.

"Good evening, Nishi-chan"

Only one person calls me that stupid nickname.

"Oikawa."

Damn it, how? I switched phone numbers during the summer so that he wouldn't find me.

As if hearing her silent question, Oikawa spoke up again.

"Sakusa gave me your number, when I asked him where you had gone."

Nishinoya clenched her teeth

"Oh."

"I must say… I'm disappointed Nishi-chan. Why would you choose to go to Karasuno? It might have been a powerhouse a few years ago, but now it's just a dump; Flightless crows. I would have understood if you went to Nekoma as planned, they have a pretty good chance of making it to Inter-Highs, despite Itachiyama being in the same district. But Karasuno? Really?"

Her finger hovering over the end call button, Nishinoya spoke coolly.

"I doesn't matter which school I choose. Nekoma or Karasuno, I'll still defeat all of you, no matter what."

Oikawa laughed on the other side.

"You're such an idiot, Nishi-chan. As if you could do that at a no-name school like Karasuno. You should come join me at Aoba Johsai, then maybe we'd be able to defeat Tendou and Sakusa together." He said.

Nishinoya didn't say anything.

Oikawa scoffed before continuing. "You know… I'd get coach to give you a regular spot on the team if you came to Aoba Johsai. I know about how the captain at Karasuno is making you play a match to even see if you'll get to be Libero, not to mention if you'll even make it as a regular."

Nishinoya's eyes widened.

How the hell did he get that information. Does he have connections with someone at Karasuno?

"I'm not joining your school. It's too late for that, I made my choice already Oikawa. And stop belittling me, I'll defeat Shiratorizawa and Itachiyama without your help."

"Fine then, Nishi-chan. You know, I don't think I've ever been rejected by a girl before, I'm going to be crying myself to sleep tonight."

I've always wondered if Oikawa has a split personality, going like that from threatening to flirting in a second. Though maybe I do too; I'm normally a cheerful person. So why is it that I feel like someone completely different whenever I'm talking with one of them?

"Goodbye Oikawa"

Just leave. I don't want to talk to you now.

"Aww, how blunt. Oh well, I guess I'll see you soon anyways. Bye-bye Nishi-chan!"

Nishinoya ended the call, realizing that the sun had already gone down beyond the horizon and it was slowly getting darker.

I'll show them all. I'll help them find their passion for volleyball again, instead of that bleak and empty feeling of constant victory and no challenge.

Oikawa at Aoba Johsai

Terushima at Johzenji

Satori at Shiratorizawa

Bokuto at Fukurodani

Sakusa at Itachiyama

… And me at Karasuno

I'll defeat all of the others.


	3. Chapter 2

[Chapter 2]

"It's scary… I can't even imagine any possibility apart from winning."

Swinging an arm across her chest and hooking onto it with her other arm, Nishinoya took a deep breath. The three on three match which Kageyama, Hinata and she had challenged their seniors to, was starting in a few minutes. Faintly, she could hear Hinata complaining that he hadn't had enough time to practice, but Nishinoya shook the notion out of her head.

Just like in any match, there's nothing to do anymore except warm-up and trust in the abilities of both your teammates and yourself.

They would win. Nishinoya couldn't even imagine any other possibility. This was the first step on her path to defeat her teammates, and she would not fail.

Sending a bright grin to where Hinata was now clutching his stomach, Nishinoya reassured him.

"Hinata-kun, I know you probably didn't have a Libero back in Junior High, but my role is to have your backs. I'll receive any serve, and I'll save any of your spikes that get blocked. You can trust me!"

For a second she thought it had been too cheesy, before suddenly Hinata gasped, stars seeming to shine in his eyes. "Noyaaaa-chan!!" he yelled, jumping onto her and almost choking her with his enthusiasm.

"Dumbass." Kageyama snorted. But even the arrogant setter seemed to relax a bit more.

Someone near them snorted. Turning around, Nishinoya caught sight of Tsukishima, the tall first year with glasses.

"You're not going to win, King. Even if your little Libero over there can somehow get the ball back to you, I'll just keep blocking the shrimp. A team is only as strong as its weakest link"

Hinata growled, removing his arms from around her and standing up again, his forehead all wrinkled up in irritation.

"Stupidshima! I'll hit past your stupid blocks! Just you wait!" the orange-haired boy yelled, now charging at the gangly blond and grabbing a hold of his jersey.

Tsukishima's eyes widened in mock fear as he tried to throw the short spiker off of him. "I'm going to catch short germs!" he cried. "Get off!"

Hinata just got angrier at this, while Kageyama snickered at his two teammates.

"Dumbasses", the setter said.

"He, I don't think the King knows any other insults apart from Dumbass" Tsukishima quickly shot back, finally managing to shake Hinata off.

Oh no no no. This is a battle that I don't plan on losing.

Lightly grabbing Kageyama's arm and pulling him towards her, Nishinoya quietly whispered a comeback in his ear.

"Say that 'your ass must be jealous of all the shit that comes out of your mouth'." She said.

Kageyama grinned, an expression that looked quite wrong on his naturally grumpy face, before opening his mouth to speak.

"Tsukishima you dumbass. I only call you that because your ass must be jealous of all the umm… bleep that comes out of-"

Nishinoya cut him off, laughing. "What the heck, Kageyama. Can you, like, not swear or something?!"

Kageyama looked insulted and yelled back. "I'm just being polite, since there's a lady nearby."

Nishinoya gasped in mock surprise. "So now I'm a lady? You didn't act like it with how you insulted me yesterday after being thrown out of the gym!"

Kageyama snickered triumphantly. "I didn't mean you, I meant Shimizu-senpai" he said, pointing to the raven-haired third year manager walking into the gym.

Opening his mouth to speak again, Kageyama was cut off by a large hand clamping down on his head.

"Now, now" the team captain said slowly with a scarily calm smile on his face. "All of you will stop fighting, or do I need to remind you that people who won't work together aren't needed."

Nishinoya shivered, feeling a chill run down her spine as Daichi looked directly at her.

He already dislikes me because of my arrogance yesterday. A nameless captain who prides himself with his receivers… this dislike stems from jealousy. It's because I'm better than him.

Inwardly Nishinoya sneered, the dislike was mutual then.

"Yes Senpai! Sorry Senpai!" Kageyama and Hinata yelled at the same time, both of their eyes closed in fear.

The ominous air immediately lifted, the captain changing moods entirely. He ignored the fact that she hadn't apologized.

"Good! Then let's get the three on three match started. My team will be serving first."

Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, and Daichi all made their way to the opposite side of the court, Tsukishima grabbing a volleyball along the way.

It's finally my first challenge. I'll win and win and keep winning.

As all six of the players got into position on the court, Nishinoya tilted her chin up and closed her eyes, in a way that was almost reminiscent of a cat. Blinking a few times before staring across the court at their opponents, she wriggled her fingers a few times.

"Bring it!" She yelled loudly at Tsukishima, who was preparing to serve.

From all the way across the court, Nishinoya met the tall blonde's eyes, studying his form.

A normal serve then. This should be simple.

Tsukishima smirked back at her, dribbling one of the volleyballs a few times before he tossed it into the air, aiming directly towards her.

She scoffed.

As if I'd fail at receiving as basic a serve as that.

The blue and yellow striped ball was hurtling towards the outer line of the court now, was it going to be out or in?

The ball kept spinning for a few moments in Nishinoya's eyes before she suddenly tilted her head.

"Out!"

The ball bounced exactly once before coming to a stop. Their temporary referee -who had introduced himself as Ennoshita- lifted his flag in the air.

Correct.

Hinata shouted loudly, jumping up into the air to high-five her. Nishinoya smirked at Tsukishima's pissed expression.

They would win this.

And of course, since Nishinoya had finally put her mind to something, nothing was allowed to go right.

It was ten minutes into the game and they were losing.

Hinata was trash at spiking. Sure, he could jump high, but when compared to Tsukishima's naturally superior height it really made no difference. Up til now, every single spike except one had been blocked by the glassed blonde.

And that one spike had gone out.

Rushing and diving to block-follow yet another spike, Nishinoya instead of sending it to Kageyama once again, instead hit it up and let it roll off the net onto the other side of the court, hopefully buying her some time to pull herself together and providing a much needed break from diving all over the court.

The one lesson she had learned up to now, was that Hinata could and should not be trusted to safely receive the ball. She would have to work on that with him.

However, luck was on her side, and with Daichi and Yamaguchi both having backed away to prepare for a possible spike, Nishinoya's simple hit over landed on the ground, bringing the score up to a tie.

Kageyama instantly called for a time out, gesturing for both Hinata and Nishinoya to gather around him.

"Our strategy isn't working. Hinata can't seem to get any spikes in." The black-haired setter said, frowning deeply while examining his hands as if they were the reason that Hinata couldn't get any spikes in.

Nishinoya glared at him. "Your hands aren't the reason Hinata isn't scoring, your brain is. Think Kageyama!"

"I am thinking! Why don't you try too!" Kageyama snarled back at her.

"Liar! If you really were thinking, you would have realized that Hinata can't win against Tsukishima in a battle of height."

"Well what else am I f*king supposed to do?" Kageyama yelled.

"Oh, so I guess the 'no swearing in front of a lady' rule no longer matters anymore, does it. Such an impolite boy" Nishinoya scoffed.

Damn it. Why am I being like this? I thought I promised to myself that I would try to be a nicer person after realizing what our team did to others.

Opening her mouth to apologize, Nishinoya hadn't even gotten a word out, before Kageyama lunges at her, sending them both tumbling to the ground, and making a jolt of pain race down her spine.

Nishinoya punched Kageyama in the face. "Get off me!" She hissed.

Kageyama growled and pinned her down under him. "Don't insult me as if you're better just because your team beat me in junior high" he yelled darkly.

Nishinoya turned her head to the side, refusing to meet Kageyama's eyes. "It's shows that I'm superior to you just in the fact that you say "me" instead of "my team" and act as if you're the only who's playing on your side of the court" she scoffed. "I guess the title of King was well given."

"Don't. Call. Me. That."

"I'll call you whatever I want. There's something wonderful, named freedom of speech."

Kageyama slapped her, her face slamming painfully into the hard ground.

Nishinoya threw him off her and punched him right in the nose, causing blood to start flowing out.

Faintly she could hear voices yelling at them to stop, but all that mattered to her at the moment, was getting to Kageyama. Getting to Kageyama, and teaching him through pain that a strong desire to win didn't matter in the face of overwhelming strength and skill.

She could feel strong arms holding her back as she tried to reach where Kageyama was sitting on the floor from where she had punched him, holding onto his nose with both hands.

To her surprise, it wasn't the angry captain caging her in, but the silver haired third year who up till now had remained mostly quiet.

"Nishinoya. Kageyama. Can I talk to you both outside for a moment."

"I understand that you both have a difference in views, but fighting won't get you closer to receiving a spot on this team."

Nishinoya's eyes widened abruptly. "Oh god… the captain saw that."

Kageyama seemed to realize what she meant, and immediately bowed his head down to the silver-haired boy who had introduced himself as 'Suga'. "Sorry!" He cried.

Nishinoya repeated after him.

Damn it. I need to be Libero.

Sugawara looked at them both coldly. "You don't need to apologize to me, apologize to each other and the captain when you get back inside. However, that is not what I wanted to talk to you both about."

"What is it?" Nishinoya asked rudely. If this third year seemingly didn't care, then she didn't need to waste time when she should be trying to get a spot on the team inside the gym.

Sugawara ignored her, and instead spoke to Kageyama. "Look, I know that you're very skilled at setting, probably way beyond me, but as advice from setter to setter, I need to tell you that the spiker isn't supposed to try and match you. You're supposed to match the spiker."

Kageyama looked at him, eyes narrowed.

"All I'm saying is that you're not taking advantage at all, of Hinata's naturally quick speed and reflexes. In fact, you're completely muting them with your sets" the silver-haired boy finished, waving them both back into the gym.

As they entered the large space, Nishinoya made a show of bowing out an apology to Kageyama, although her teeth were clenched.

Making their way back on court, Kageyama's nose having stopped bleeding, Nishinoya whispered something into the setter's ears.

"You can pinpoint set right… Easy… just bring the ball to where Hinata is going to hit it."

Kageyama glared at her. "It's not easy" he growled, but nevertheless he made his way over to Hinata and started talking to the orange-haired boy.

Nishinoya smirked, her back still in pain from where Kageyama had tackled her.

It's worth a try.

It had worked.

That was the only thing going through Nishinoya's mind as she watched the ball bounce for the second time on the other side of the court.

Hinata had jumped, and she had seen that moment of hesitation in Kageyama's eyes, before suddenly the ball had contacted with the ground and the point had been theirs'.

Watching silently as Hinata landed on the ground and stared in shock at his hand, Nishinoya suddenly felt all too familiar pangs of jealousy.

Why is it that I always want what I can't have? I want to be able to spike like Hinata, I want to set like Kageyama. But I can't…

Others looking at her might have been jealous themselves. Nishinoya bit her lip, she'd chosen to be Libero, back when she could have chosen anything else.

Bitterly, she inwardly scoffed.

The grass is always greener on the other side… (until you go there for yourself and find out it's astroturf)

Hinata bounced over to her. "Did you see that, Noya-chan?! Did you see that?! I hit the ball all like boom and whoosh."

Nishinoya put on a smile. "Yeah. Nice job Hinata!"

Since when have I started doubting my own decisions so much. I choose to become a Libero, I choose to never be able to spike, to set, to serve. Now I need to live with it.

Kageyama nodded curtly to her as well. "We're going to win now."

The raven haired setter caught the volleyball that had been tossed to him, and made his way over to the court edge.

"Nice serve."

"Go Killer Serve, Kageyama-kun!"

Nishinoya bent her knees and settled into the receiving position instinctively, the movements having been driven into her muscles by hours upon hours of practice.

Ha… I'm such an idiot, having thoughts like these during a match. Right now the only thing I should be focused on is winning. I guess I'm just not like Hinata and Kageyama, such simpletons when it comes to volleyball that the complete desire to win takes over their entire mind during a game.

Not like there was even the slimmest possibility that they wouldn't win now, not with all three of them performing well.

25:18

The win had been relatively easy after Hinata and Kageyama had created their new quick, with their team breaking away and earning consecutive sets of points, Tsukihima being unable to block almost all of the orange-haired boy's spikes. But looking at the scoreboard, another scoreboard similar to this one instantly flashed into Nishinoya's mind.

25:6

"You."

It was Kageyama, emotionlessly staring at her. Nishinoya looked back tiredly. "What do you want?" she said.

"We won. I'll play setter and you'll play Libero. Happily ever after." Kageyama replied. "So why do you look as if we just lost?"

"It's not your business, Can't-mind-his-own-beeswax-yama-san"

"Fine, whatever. I shouldn't have bothered to care."

Nishinoya left the gym right after that, ignoring Sugawara and Hinata's questions for where she was going and pleas for her to stay a little longer.

Despite what Daichi had said the first day, Nishinoya knew that Karasuno needed her, if they even wanted to stand a chance to go on to nationals.

Oh well. We won today's match.

I'm going to be Libero.


	4. Chapter 3

[Chapter 3]

Tsukishima was complicated. That had been one of the first things Nishinoya realized upon arriving about an hour too early to school and finding the blonde already in the gym, practicing.

She had made her way next to him, and started her warm ups alongside him.

"You say you don't particularly like playing volleyball?" she had said.

"I don't. I'm not a simpleton like Kageyama-san and Hinata-san." he had replied.

"I'm not either."

"I know."

"So why are you here so early?"

"No reason, I just felt like it?"

"Do you want to practice with me?"

"No. I'm fine on my own."

"Okay, thanks for offering, you can help me with block follows."

"Didn't you hear me say no-"

"Great. Just stand here and we'll start."

"Again, I'd really rather not."

"Good thing I don't care for your opinion."

"...You're not like how I'd imagined you'd be."

"Oh? So you dreamed about me before we even met? That sounds like some cheesy romance story."

"Are you really from Shiroyama?"

"You're not like how the magazines made you out to be."

"People change, Tsukishima-san."

"Or more likely, certain people are fakers?"

"Hmm? I almost think I can smell your true personality showing through at times."

"Oh really?"

"An insecure little brat that's rotten to the core."

Nishinoya had finally turned her head away, Tsukishima's pale eyes having gotten uncomfortably close to the truth. With a hand, she pushed the blonde away from her, and walked over to the cart full of striped volleyballs.

"Let's just start practice, please."

Nishinoya's first impression of the team advisor had been that 'Oh wow, he was clumsy'. Then, moments later it had instantly changed to 'Okay fine, maybe slightly useful.

After her oh so interesting talk with Tsukishima, they'd only practiced for a few minutes in tense silence before Hinata and Kageyama -thank kami for idiots like them- had barged in, Hinata demanding that she help him with improving his spiking. And then, about an hour later, when the entire team was in the middle of a practice game, Takeda had stumbled through the open door of the volleyball gym, tripping on the doorstep and implanting his face into the hard court.

For a moment there had been complete silence, before suddenly Takeda had announced that he had arranged a practice match for them. And with Aoba Johsai High, no less.

"Aoba Johsai?!" Surprisingly, it was Tanaka who first broke the silence, crying out in surprise.

Hinata bounced up and down on his feet. "A practice match! When?!"

Nishinoya frowned. Aoba Johsai… As if I'd be stupid enough to ever forget that name.

As Takeda cheerfully told them all that it was this afternoon, and suddenly everyone started freaking out, Tsukishima spoke up, addressing her for the first time since their odd conversation that very morning.

"Nishinoya-san… I'm quite sure you know someone at Aoba Johsai. You do, don't you?"

Suddenly everyone was staring at her, and Nishinoya gulped. "My teammate…"

Hinata yelled out suddenly. "Wait! I'll get my copy of the latest Volleyball Monthly!" And he raced out of the gym towards the club storage room.

Moments later, almost too fast for a human to possibly have run some 300 metres and back, Hinata had returned, the promised magazine in his grasp.

"Nice, Hinata-kun! Let's see it!" Tanaka said. Nishinoya tried to squirm out of the tight circle that her teammates had created around her as they all took a look at the magazine.

"It's page 6" she told them sullenly.

The captain of the team quickly took the magazine from Hinata, and flipped to the page.

"Aoba Johsai High: Although, currently being ranked as second in the Miyagi prefecture, Aoba Johsai has some quite interesting players." Daichi started to read out.

"Among them is Iwaizumi Hajime, third year ace; Kyoutani Kentarou, nicknamed the 'Mad Dog'; Watari Shinji, Libero; and of course, most noticeably, the recent addition from the Shiroyama Junior-High Volleyball Team…"

"Oikawa Toru. Position: Setter." Kageyama said, his eyes closed.

Daichi nodded as he kept reading the article. "Despite being a first year, Oikawa currently has the position of Captain, something almost never seen before. Previously a part of the team nicknamed the "Generation of Miracles", Oikawa is most famous for his incredible jump serves and setting."

Hinata clenched his hands in excitement. "I can't wait to face him! He must be strong!"

"Dumbass. You're not ready to play matches like these yet, as if they'll even let you on the court." Kageyama scoffed.

"Kageyama, if Hinata isn't going to play, you aren't either. The only use either of you have for the team as of now, is as a combo with your quick attack. Despite your pinpoint setting, you haven't played with the team long enough, Kageyama." Nishinoya responded coldly. "If any of the first years will be playing, it will be me and Tsukishima."

Nishinoya wasn't blind or oblivious to the increase of tension in the gym, but she didn't apologize for her words either.

Tanaka looked at her with a sideways glance. "Getting cocky now aren't we? Just because you're also from Shiroyama doesn't mean you're automatically going to be a regular. Karasuno isn't like Aoba Johsai, a team which decided to immediately made Oikawa captain just because he was part of the Generation of Miracles."

Nishinoya looked back at him, a bit of ice beginning to leak into her words which had previously been semi-playful. "I'm not being arrogant. I'm just stating a fact. Even just having someone in the position would help Karasuno a lot because of all the rules Liberos are exempt from, such as 'one switch per set'... not to mention that I'm the best Libero there is."

She proudly tilted her chin upwards, as if daring someone to challenge her.

Tanaka was about to fire something back, ready to launch into a fight with Nishinoya all too similar to the one with Kageyama the day before, when suddenly Sugawara spoke up.

"I think that since it's just a practice match, all the first years should play, and we can use this as an opportunity to try out both Hinata and Kageyama's super quick as well as Nishinoya's skills as a Libero." he said. "Daichi?"

"Sure. We'll do as Sugawara suggested, so Hinata, Kageyama, Nishinoya, and Tsukishima get a chance to try out their skills in a real match."

Nishinoya's eyes narrowed for a second, and she opened her mouth to speak as she realized the captain had skipped Yamaguchi, the fourth first year, before she shut quickly shut her mouth. It was intentional, of course. Yamaguchi had no true value to the team at the moment. If he wanted to make it, he would have to practice more.

Hinata started cheering, and shared a quick high five with Kageyama. "We're going to win against the Grand-king-san!"

"Grand-king-san?"

"If Kageyama-kun is the 'King' and Oikawa-san is better than him, then Oikawa-san must be the Grand-king!"

Hinata was instantly punched by Kageyama. "Dumbass."

This seemed to break the tenseness in the gym, which had increased when Daichi had been forced to choose the members who would be playing in the match against Aoba Johsai. All the second and third year members made their way back onto the court to keep practicing, and the first years -with the exception of Yamaguchi, who had not been chosen as a player- huddled together in a circle near the bench.

Tsukishima snickered. "I wonder how badly we're going to lose tomorrow."

Nishinoya looked at the tall blonde. His expression was weird. Despite having just laughed at his own team and mocked them, he seemed determined and his fingers were tapping rapidly on his thigh.

She laughed. "Hypocrite."

"Brat."

"Idiot."

"Jerkface."

"Moron."

Nishinoya's face had come alarmingly close to Tsukishima's at this point, her nose almost touching him as they flung insults at each other. Behind them, Kageyama and Hinata were casting odd glances, and Hinata seemed to be debating on whether to stop them.

"Asshole."

"Trash."

All of a sudden a shadow loomed over them both, grabbing Nishinoya by the collar of her volleyball uniform.

"Who's trash?"

For a moment, Nishinoya thought it was Daichi, and opened her mouth to explain, before suddenly she recognized the voice. Because of the strong hold on her uniform, she couldn't turn her head to see, but Tsukishima was gaping at the figure behind her.

Managing to slightly twist her body around, Nishinoya aimed a punch at Oikawa's face.

He caught it, chuckling and giving her a smile. "I still can't believe you choose to stay at Karasuno, after I invited you to join Aoba Johsai. I've been crying myself to sleep every night, ever since you rejected me."

By now, all of the team members seemed to have realized who had just entered the gym.

"Who are you?" Daichi demanded.

Oikawa simply picked up the Volleyball Monthly magazine, which had been discarded on the ground only minutes ago, and pointed to the blown-up picture of himself on the front. "This would be me, I believe. It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Oikawa Toru."

Tanaka burst out. "Why the f*k are you here? Get out!"

Hinata also, had a strange look in his eyes. "We're gonna beat you, Grand King-san!"

Having ignored Tanaka's vulgar question, Oikawa finally turned around to face Hinata, still not letting go of Nishinoya's shirt collar. "Grand King?"

"Kageyama-kun is the King, and if you're the best setter in the nation, you must be better than him, which means you're Grand King-san" the orange-haired boy explained for the second time that day.

Oikawa chuckled. "Kageyama? I've heard that name before. Kageyama Tobio, right?"

Kageyama nodded. "My name is Kageyama Tobio, I'm going to defeat you and become the best setter in the country" he said monotonously.

Oikawa tilted his head at Kageyama in a mocking manner, running the hand that wasn't holding onto Nishinoya through his chestnut hair. "You really think you can defeat me, Tobio-chan?"

Kageyama looked away from the other setter's piercing gaze. "Of course."

Oikawa smiled condescendingly at the black-haired boy, using his slightly taller height to intimidate him. "Then I look forward, to crushing you, setter-on-setter, in an official match."

Nishinoya finally managed to get out of his death grip, pushing him away. "Get out" she said, through clenched teeth.

The brown-haired setter gasped, clutching dramatically at his chest. His arms dropped. "No" he said flatly. "I came here for a reason."

The court was silent, and tension filled the air as Nishinoya stared hotly back at Oikawa's cool gaze.

Tanaka made a menacing face, and Sugawara didn't stop the bald headed second year as he normally would.

"I came to see how strong Karasuno is. Nishi-chan replaced us with you guys, so I wonder if you'll live up to the spot we left behind."

Kageyama and Hinata, those hot-headed idiots, easily responded to his insult, with cries of "hey! I'll show that arrogant bastard who's boss!"

However Daichi quickly stepped in front of the two first years, and calmly held out his hand to Oikawa.

"Earlier you challenged Kageyama, setter-on-setter. In accordance, I promise you, captain-to-captain, that we'll show you just how strong Karasuno is at the practice match."

A soft wind blew into the gym through the door, and brown locks of hair rustled in the breeze. Oikawa seemed semi-surprised that Daichi had challenged him, but the two captains shook hands nevertheless.

"We'll be expecting you at the Aoba Johsai gym in a few days then. I look forwards to creaming Karasuno".

A final smirk from Oikawa, and then the famous setter vanished into the courtyard outside, already full of fake smiles and charm, busy signing autographs.


	5. Chapter 4

**[Chapter 4]**

* * *

The bus was cramped and hot, and smelled exactly like how Nishinoya had imagined it to be - layers upon layers of sweat.

Completely used to the relatively luxurious buses Shiroyama had provided their team with, she sat stiffly on the edge of her seat. She had hardly slept a wink, so she sighed and closed her eyes, trying her best to relax in the midst of loud yelling coming from all sides.

 _I will beat Oikawa_

 _I have to beat Oikawa_

 _This is my best chance_

 _Before he's able to play in sync with his teammates_

Nishinoya opened her eyes and mouthed the words to herself, and to be honest, at this point she was just mindlessly repeating them. Not like there was much use anyways, all that mattered would happen on the court.

Taking a cautious lean back into her seat - was that a spring poking into her back? - she closed her eyes again, trying to clear her mind and enter the pre-game mental state. All this would just be a waste of time if she couldn't manage to play to her best ability.

Annoyingly, her teammates were being quite loud, and for a few moments, Nishinoya found herself missing the relative peace she and her previous teammates had shared before; everyone inside their own small world.

"Hinata, your stomach hurts?! Now?! Really, couldn't you have been sick last week instead?"

"Ugh this always happens when I get nervous!"

"Tch. What's there to be nervous about."

"Shut up Bakayama! I know you're just as nervous!"

She shook her head in frustration and groaned. There was absolutely no way she would be able to achieve some inner peace and calm her nerves with the way she kept unconsciously listening in to what the others were talking about. Giving up, she wearily blinked her eyes and looked around. From what she knew of the neighbourhood, they were nearing the Aoba Johsai campus.

Looking down, she noticed that her hands were shaking slightly. Immediately she berated herself.

 _Get a hold of yourself Nishinoya Yuu. You are not, and will not be, a pathetic weakling._

* * *

There. She'd passed the line of no return. Nishinoya was now officially inside the Aoba Johsai gymnasium.

The bus ride had been long and uncomfortable, but in her worry time had seemed to fly by, and before she knew it the Karasuno High volleyball club had been standing outside the modern gymnasium belonging to Aoba Johsai.

Taking a look around she noted down where all her teammates were.

Hinata, Tanaka, and Kageyama had run ahead of the others, and were currently staring in wonder at the sleek and new volleyball courts which the school boasted.

Tsukishima was walking beside Yamaguchi, Sugawara, and Daichi, all of them making their way into the changeroom provided for their team.

Nishinoya, having been the last member of the Karasuno team to enter the gym, frowned, and quickly walked to the girl's changeroom across the court.

Weirdly enough, there didn't seem to be any regular members of the Seijoh team warming up on the multiple courts. Perhaps they were changing as well, but she would've expected them to at least take the advantage of extra warm up time.

No… no what was she thinking. Of course they wouldn't, because which of them would even have a doubt that Karasuno, a relatively unknown team would manage to defeat them.

She angrily yanked open the door to the girls change room and walked inside.

"Good morning Nishi-chan"

Oikawa the f**king bastard that he was, stood leaning against the wall, smirking at her.

"Get out Oikawa. I need to change and I don't have the time nor the will to talk to you"

"It's not like I haven't seen you shirtless before Nishi-chan. Go ahead, do whatever you planned to do. I'll wait as long as I need to talk to you."

"Please leave, or I will have to report you"

Oikawa let out a small chuckle. Of course there was no way any report from a non-school student like her could harm him in any way.

Nishinoya bit her lip to the point of it being slightly painful, and finally turned around and stalked to the other side of the changeroom (not that it was that far away, considering there weren't any dividers).

With Oikawa's stare on her the entire time, she changed as quickly as possible into her uniform and walked to the door, avoiding him as much as possible.

 _He knows how uncomfortable this is making me. Relax. He's probably just trying to throw off my game before the match even begins._

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she firmly pulled on the door, ready to enter the court.

And of course, it didn't budge. Oikawa had his hand above her head, holding it shut.

Fed up with him, Nishinoya finally whirled around to face him.

"What the f**k do you want, Oikawa"

"To understand why you seem to hate me so much, Nishi-chan"

The Libero took a small step back in shock, and opened her mouth a tiny bit.

 _Oh_

She closed her mouth and turned around again.

 _I don't want to answer, I wish so much that I was somewhere else right now, somewhere as far away as possible from Oikawa. However… I owe him an answer. It's his right to feel confused, the last time I saw him in person I snapped and ran away._

 _But how do I explain? How do I get him to see how all of their horrible actions and thoughts and attitudes just built up, until it became too much._

It was a good thing that she was turned away from him, or Oikawa might have caught the slight shaking of her hands, or the gloss over her eyes that showed impending tears.

"It's nothing personal against you, Oikawa. I just don't wish to associate with any of you, at least for the moment." Nishinoya couldn't have been more thankful that her voice came out relatively steady.

She laughed bitterly inside her head. _Well if his goal was throwing me off, he's succeeded._

"Why?"

A cold, simply uttered word.

"Our last game, the one against Kuroo and Kenma. It was probably so insignificant to you that you don't remember. But that was the final straw for me. All of you changed so much, none of you even enjoy playing this sport now, and I HATE IT SO MUCH"

Her face scrunched up in pain.

"As I said, Oikawa. I don't hate you, I hate what you stand for and what you do"

Nishinoya heard the brown haired setter take a step back, and took that opportunity to escape the changeroom and head onto the court, where all her teammates were waiting.

The Libero casually rubbed her eyes to get rid of any traces of tears and composed herself.

 _Time in the future to think about the past. The present is for the present._

Not even sure why that had popped into her head suddenly, she vowed to reflect on her conversation later.

"What took you so long?" Daichi asked.

"Oh sorry, I was just preoccupied in my thoughts" she replied, laughing it off.

Moving further into the court, Nishinoya sat down and began to stretch, and after the blow of a whistle relaxed into her receiving stance and got ready to do the standard warmups.

The ref blew his whistle to signify the captains shaking hands, and all the players who had been previously warming up, gathered on the court.

Nishinoya narrowed her eyes. Barely half of the players facing them were regulars. Did Seijoh underestimate them that much?

"Where's Oikawa?" She yelled angrily.

The Aoba Johsai coach calmly walked over to their side of the court, while the ref blew his whistle again.

"Oikawa-san requested to play, but I decided that since he has a slightly bothered ankle, he should not be bothered to play in a match which will last tops half an hour" he said, all the while sneering nastily.

Nishinoya sneered back

"Do you know who I am?"

The coach looked at her. "Nishinoya. Libero."

Nishinoya snarled at the utter disrespect in his voice, and thought back with a bitter laugh. _Didn't Oikawa promise me a immediate regular position if I transferred to Aoba Johsai. Guess it wouldn't have worked out anyways_

"I suppose we'll have to show you that you need him and the rest of the regulars here to even have a chance at beating us" she replied.

He shrugged and walked back to the other side. "We hear that all the time"

Nishinoya ignored the urge to throw something at his back, and instead clenched her hands and turned back to her teammates.

Surprisingly when she met Daichi's eyes she saw the faintest glimmer of respect. Silently his eyes thanked her for standing up for the team.

Without a word, Nishinoya instead wrinkled her nose and turned her head away.

 _Whatever._

This time when the ref whistled it was to signify the beginning of the game.

Their opponents had won the coin flip, and so one of the two players who she recognized as regulars got ready to serve.

It wasn't bad, she thought, as the ball whistled towards the end line.

 _But it's easy._

Nishinoya lunged abruptly and easily sent the receive to the optimal position above Kageyama, who immediately jump set the ball to an already airborne Hinata in perfect minus tempo. Unprovoked, her eyes found the Seijoh coach watching from the bench with clenched teeth and she couldn't help but smirk.

It was Hinata and Kageyama who everyone was looking at astounded, but she felt a small sense of pride in being the foundation for making it happen.

Because _goddamnit_ the spotlight would never truly be on her, but she would have to satisfy herself with silently knowing that it was _her_ who made it happen.


End file.
